Comments on: Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism – the Gap Between?http://abstractcritical.com/article/minimalism-and-abstract-expressionism-the-gap-between/
Abstract Critical is a not-for profit company aiming to establish a new critical context for all generations of artists involved with ambitious abstract art.Sun, 09 Nov 2014 17:23:33 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.2By: Stuhttp://abstractcritical.com/article/minimalism-and-abstract-expressionism-the-gap-between/#comment-1153
Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:37:00 +0000http://abstractcritical.com/?p=1505#comment-1153The show didn’t really work for me. Some good work but the whole premise seems so irrelevant.
]]>By: Simon Deakinhttp://abstractcritical.com/article/minimalism-and-abstract-expressionism-the-gap-between/#comment-858
Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:43:56 +0000http://abstractcritical.com/?p=1505#comment-858What is it that could make the ‘and’ between the minimalism and abstract expressionism meaningful as a gap? Expressionism is already an abstraction, it doesn’t refer to a specific thing as a description, rather it refers to a state. Perhaps Roman Opalka’s work was an example? Maybe time could occupy the gap between minimalism and expressionism. Wasn’t there some idea that his work was about a process of gradual disappearance? This disappearance being marked numerically, allowing the disappearance to appear as that which is disappearing: expression, abstraction, time…
]]>By: BW Tomlinhttp://abstractcritical.com/article/minimalism-and-abstract-expressionism-the-gap-between/#comment-734
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 11:22:48 +0000http://abstractcritical.com/?p=1505#comment-734Abstract Minimalism? Critical Realism? Well, it’s obvious that Post Modernism is history. And that leaves contemporary painters doing what? For those of us who still put brush to canvas or pick up a camera, it means a trip down memory lane–to the gritty realism and the high-minded conceptualism of the ’70s. The socially progressive “Me Decade” has yet to catch up with the extravagant behavior of 21st Century bankers–but it’s getting there. Perhaps Minimalism isn’t quite the ticket but, then, the conceptualism that informs it will most certainly launch us into the next revolution.
]]>By: GBhttp://abstractcritical.com/article/minimalism-and-abstract-expressionism-the-gap-between/#comment-597
Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:27:45 +0000http://abstractcritical.com/?p=1505#comment-597What is the gap that is elluded to between Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism but a game of historical references and antecedents? Andrew seems to explain Minimilism as a sort of anti-art but surely the artists wanted to gleen a truth and Minimilists are simply artistic purists. Abstract Expressionist’s are also purists. So, each are looking for a truth justifying their existence through academic or evolutionary discourse. Opposites to each other yet they co-exist because they both are part of an intelligent evolutionary process.

Each have there historical relevance fixed and although they are persuasive arguments, the argument that existed at the time regarding the diminshing quality of execution in the work, is now at a pivotal point for Post Modernist artists. When Kirk Varnedoe discusses abstraction as a universe of many windows what he does not say is that ideas are easy, everyone has ideas and many windows through which to see these ideas. The post-modernist artists merely need to illustrate them by whatever means. The making of art is therefore unimportant, because it has become secondary to the idea.

This leaves us with the notion that art is merely an illustration of the idea and conceptually not really that important. We see this in Post Modernism, which has at its heart token art, trendy ideas, and a general decay in the worthiness and standards of artistic outcomes, you can even book a market stall to sell your art wares. An artist’s bric a brac stall situated in a collaborative market, what a come down from those lofty heights of the Minimilist or Abstract Expressionist artist.

Therefore, it is those open discussions, which spring up when revaluating the gap between Minimilism and Abstract Expressionism that is interesting. Rather than a closed dialogue adopted by post Modernists’ promoting branded products aimed at the budget buyer or the investor. There is not a real care for the art here but this is not the case for either Minimilism or Abstract Expressionism.